Lithuania: Prayerful Resistance in Eastern Europe

One of our dearest friends in all of Europe is Vilma Karveliene who heads up Living Waters in Lithuania. She champions healing for all persons through Divine Mercy. Her nation is small (3 million persons), proud of its new fragile democracy, and one of the Baltic countries closest to Russia that Putin wants to reclaim. She implores us to pray for her country:

‘We live day and night with the harrowing reality of Ukraine.

Our people are scared. The war is intimidatingly near (Ukraine is just over 500 miles away). Old, unhealed wounds suffered by Lithuanians during WWII and Soviet Union occupation have reopened. Anger and hatred towards the Russian people are growing, and we seem unable to separate the actions of the regime from a human being.

Yet there are hopeful signs and memories: in all Lithuanian churches there is unceasing prayer, even at night. We remember the tanks of the January 13, 1991 (when the Soviet wall came down) and the crowds of thousands praying joyfully in front of brutal military equipment.

Yet the war is ever near to us. No strangers to Russian aggression, we view the war in Ukraine with a broken heart as we see her people suffering; missiles aimed at civilians that destroy homes, hospitals and schools, and nuclear power plants... Countless people are dying!

We grieve also for manipulated Russian soldiers, without a clue where they're being sent, now left dead on the roadside. May our hearts not be poisoned with hatred and violence for the aggressors.

We anxiously realize that the target of this war is not just Ukraine, but other countries as well, beginning with Lithuania.

May the Church arise united, free from demonic opposition and the spirit of fear. May we not hate the Russians but rather the evil driving Putin to rally his people for violence. Above all, may we be a people of Hope. Through it all, may we never cease to witness to the final victory of God's mercy.’